HomeMy WebLinkAboutLocal Public Works Capital Development & Investment Act C,'~IN~ AND $1LVEBk,~AN P C.
ARC ~iT"'CTS - ENG;NL~_,,~ - PLA~.,:,~S
499 JERICHO TU~4P~KE, M~NEO~ N.Y. 1150~
[51G) 248-0G90
CONGRESS
H.R. 13247'
IN TIIE IIOUSE 0F REPRESENTATIVES
:~[ASCH 20, 1975
Mr. Jeers of A]abam.~ (for himself, Mr. Rot., ~fr. O~N~jLL~ Mr. McF~ Mr.
' WMOI{Tj Mr. JOHNSON of California, Mr. Rosrw~> Mr. Mc~u~ic:j ~ls.
ABzr% Mr. BsE~vx, ~{r. STUDDS, Mr. t{O~AN~, Mr. Ho~, Mr. OBERSTAH,
Mr. Noway, and M~. L~ of Tenn~e) introdu~d the following bill;
whlcb was referred ~ the Commi~e on Public Wor~ and Transpo~ation
To authorize
A BILL
a local public works capital development and
investment program.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House o[ Re~resenta-,
2 tires o[ the United States o[ America in Congress assembled,
3 That this Act may be cited as the "Local Publle Works
4 Capifal Dcvclopmcnt and Investment Act of 1975". ';
5 ~q~c.2. (a) The 'most severe economic declln~ in & gert-
6 eratlon has brought about ma~ive unemployment and has
7 greatly worsened the already severe difficulties expe;icnced
8 by State and local governments in funding construc6on of
9 badly ncedecl public works projects, ltigh levels of uncmploy-
10 ment now prevail in all parts of the Nation and in virtually
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1 all sector-s of the economy. Joblessness is especially severe
2 in tho construction industry, where fully one-fourth ~)f all
a workers are now unemployed ann unemployment has been
4 at depressed rates, above 8 per eentnm, for more than four
5 years~The high rate of long-term unemployment in the eon-
6 struefion industry has not only Created grave difficulties for.
7 those individuals immediately affected in the eonstructien
8' and mated'als ~industries; it has also contributed dlreetly and
9 substantially to the weakening of the entire economy of the
10 Nation, as depr~sed conditions in the construction industry,
11 brought on by extremely high interest rates, have under-
12 mined the strength and vitality of ether sectors, ultimately
13 spreading throughout '~]~e entire economy.
14 (b) The current depressed state of the national economy
15 has had an especially heavy hnpact upon lor~l goveruments.
16 ]For decades, local governments have e×perlc~ced growing
17 ditllcaltles in funding from their own limited resources,
18 primarily locM real property k~xes, the'publlc facilities needs
19 of 'their communities. Unlike previc~s difficulties experienced
20 by locM goveruments, however, the current economle
21 decline has been accompanied by extremely high. interest
22 rates, which ha. ye brought communities across the Nation
23 to ,a point at which it is shnply no longer possible for them
24 t~) finance nee,led public facilities, thereby threatening the
25 h~xith, safety, and ~eneral Welfa.re of their ci~zens.
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1 , (c) That a vast pool of idle manpower should coexist
2 with a hugd backlog of badly needed and long overdue local
3 public facilities work of all kinds is both needless and unwise
4 public policy. This deleterious situation is directly counter
5 to the existing national policy, stated in the Employment
6 Act of 1946, of maintaining maximum employmenb produc-
T tion, and purchasing power~
8 (d) The Congress finds that .the goals of providing
9 employment opportunities for all those able, willing, and
10 seeking to work, of meethlg the unmet needs of local com-
11 munltlcs for better public facilities, and of stimulating the
12 national economy, which currently has approximately
13 ~2301000,000,000 of idle capacity, in a noninflatlonary man-
14 ncr, can be achieved through a program of :Federal assistance
:15 to State and local governments directed town.rd improving
16 local public facilities. The Congress therefore /teclares that
17 there exists a national tmcmploymcnt emergency and that,
18 to combat this unemployment emergency and stimulate
19 activity in the constructl'on and materials industries and in
20 the economy generally, and to assist State and local govern-
21 mcnts in promoting the gcncral welfare of their citizens
22 through tile provision of adcquato pabllc facilities, there
should be established a program of Federal grants-in-aid to
State and local governments for the construction, repair, or
ether improvement .of local public facd~!~ys,, s.a.Ch §rants-m~
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I aid to be made available for public facilities projects which
2 prmmse rapid implmnentation and reduction in unemploy-
SEc. 3. As used in this Act the'term "Secretary" means
5 the Secretary of Commerce acting through the Economic
6 Development Adm,mstrat~on.
7 S~:c. 4. (a) The Secretary is authorized to make grants
8 to afiy State or locaI government for l~cal public Works proj-
9 ects (including but not limited to (1) those public works
10 projects .oi State and local governments for which Federal
11 financial assistance is authorized under provisions of law
other than this Act, and (2) the architectural design, eng,-
13 neering, and related planning of local public works projects) ..
. {b) The Federal share of any project for which a grant
15 is made under this Act shall be 100 per centum oi the cost of
16 the project. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to author-
17 'ize the payment of malntenance costs in connectlon'with any
18 project constructed (in who~e or in part) wkh Federal
19 financml assistance under tins Act..
20 SEc. 5.' The Secretary shall, not Icier than thirty days
21 after date of enactment of this Act, prescribe thOse rules, reg-
.22 ulatlonL and procedures (including application forms) nec-
23 essary tO carry out this :Act. Such rules, regulations, and
procedures si{all assdre that adcqimte consideration is given
25 to t}ie 'relative needs of various sections of the country. The
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Scc?etary Shall ctmsidcr among other factors (1) the severity
and duration 'of une~npl0yment in proposed project areas,
(2~' the income levels and extent'of underempl0y~nent in pro-
possd Project aieas, and:'(3) the extent to Which proi)osed
projects Will /:ontribute si~qficantly to the reduction of na-
tlonM unemployment: The Secretary shall make a final de-
termination With respect to each application for · graht sub-
mitted to him under this Act not later than the thirtieth da.y
after the date 'he receives such application. Failure to make
such final determination within such period shah be deemed
to be an approval by the Secretary of the grant requested.
S~c. 6. In addition to the grants otherwise authorized
by this Act~ the Secretary is'adthorlzed to make a grant
for the purpose of increasing the Federal contdbutlon to a
public' works project for which Federal financial: assistance
is authorized under provisions of law other than this Act
t~ 100 per centum of the cost of the project if such Fcdcral
financial assistance under such law is i~amcdlately available
for such project dud construction of such project has not ye~
been initiated.
S~c. 7. Not more than 10 per ccntum of aH ai;~ounts
authorized to carry out this Act shall be granted for local
public works projects Within any one State.
Sr~c. 8. All laborers and mechanics e~nploycd by con-~
tractors or subcontractors on projects a~isted by the. Sec-
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1 retary under this Act shall be raid ws~gcs at rotes not less
2 than those prcvailh~g on similar construction in the loealit~
3 as determined by the Secretary of Laboi' in accordance with
4 the Davis-Bacon Act, as amende(l (40 U.S.C. 276a--276a~-
5 5). The Secretary shall not extend say finaacial assistance
6 Under this Act for such project withoat first obtaining' ade-
7 qtmte assurance that these laSor standards will be maintained
8' upon the construction work. The Secre~ry of Labor shall
9 have, with respect to the labor standards specified in this
10 provision, the authority and functi6ns set forth in Reorgani-
11 zation Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (15. ~.R. 3176; 64 Stat.
12 1267; 5 U.S.C. 133z~-15), a~d sect]on 2 of the Act of
13 Jtme 13, 1964, as'amended (40 U.S.(]. 2760). : ~
14 SI~c. 9. There is author'~zed to be appropriated not to
15 exceed $5,000,000,000 to carry out thia ]~ct. . -
94T~ CONGRESS
H.R. 5247
A BILL
To authorize a local public works capital
development and investment program.
By .~Ir. JoN~s of Alabama, Mr. Roz, Mr.
O'NEILL, ~-~r. McFALL, Mr. ]V2~oHT, Mr.
JOH~SO~ Of Califo~ia, Mr. Ronrn~s, Mr.
McCon~AC~, ~ls. ~z~o, Mr. B~AUX, ~r.
S~DS, Mr. Ho~v, Mr. How~, Mr.
OBERSTAR, Mr. NowAy, and M~. LLO~ of
Te~es~
M~ac~ 20, 1975
Referred to the Committee on Public Works and
Transportation